by Gina Carra
Blue tendrils of smoke curl through the air and Persephone notices a room and furniture begin to form until a wall builds to block her view.
Hades stares at the new room, panting lightly after her efforts. “You don’t have to like me or trust me. Just don’t assume to know me because of the stories you’ve heard up there. I can’t exactly dispute them from here. Please keep that in mind.”
Hades walks back to her room and closes the door.
Persephone’s frozen on the spot. She’s seen many sides of Hades now, but something about this…
The way she barely moved a finger and the world bent to her will. To watch reality warp and rebuild without Hades breaking a sweat, it’s a stark reminder to Persephone just how powerful Hades truly is. How dangerous she could be, if she chose to be.
Persephone doesn't remember when her fear of Hades faded, but it spikes up again, even stronger now that she caught herself unguarded. This isn’t some silly vacation. Persephone is trapped with the most feared god in all creation. Yet Hades has been kind and wise. Even Hermes defended her. It could be a lie. She reminds herself of the deception Hades is known for.
She shakily lets herself into the new room and tries to sleep knowing Hades is on the other side of that wall.
✽✽✽
Demeter wakes slowly, a warm body curled against his.
He smiles and breathes in, expecting the floral scent of Persephone from the times she’d have nightmares and curl against him in the middle of the night, not that she’d ever admit to that after.
When he smells liquor and sweat, he panics.
His eyes fly open and he sees Hebe naked in the bed next to him. He didn’t black out. He remembers. He doesn’t feel guilty. He knows Hebe’s married, but plenty of gods are married, probably to multiple people. He also knows Hebe harbors no feelings for her wife except for resentment.
Hebe shifts, eyes opening to meet Demeter’s. They hold each other’s gaze for a moment.
Hebe’s smile is knowing. “You thought I was Seph for a moment?”
Demeter hums.
Hebe laughs softly and it builds so much that tears fall out of her eyes. Demeter watches her curiously until Hebe chokes out a laugh. “Imagine her face when we tell her we banged.”
Demeter scoffs but ends up laughing loudly too. “We can’t tell her.”
Hebe kicks Demeter’s leg under the covers. “We’re definitely telling her. I need to see her face.”
Demeter wants to deny her again, but he knows this is Hebe’s way of hoping—imagining this future scenario they’ll have with Persephone. Demeter feels his heart thump. He wonders if this was really just a one-night thing. “Yeah, we’ll tell her.”
Hebe must hear the emotion filtered into Demeter’s words because she leans forward, gentle where they were passionate last night, and captures Demeter’s lips.
Touch
Persephone wasn’t really sure what Hades could do, no one knew. No one knew anything about the Lord of the Underworld outside of rumors. She doesn’t really want to think too hard about other applications of that ability. To take her mind off it for a moment, Persephone sits in her new room with the book from Hebe.
It’s her flower journal. It holds pressed flowers and stories about each of them. Her fingers run over a pressed chrysanthemum. The flowers can’t die here, they’re already dead. She can smell the floral scent the book has absorbed into its pages and it feels like the first breath of air she’s taken in days.
Bless Hebe. Seriously.
As she turns the pages, each flower reminds her of another human. Some she spoke to, some she didn’t, some she even became friends with.
When she turns the page and is confronted by a heliotrope flower she pauses and remembers telling Hades about Jaela and her husband. She closes the book and holds her head in her hands. Everything she’s learned about Hades feels like a paradox. Her head spins, but the conclusion she keeps coming back to is that she’s safe and unharmed. Hades never attempted to harm her or even touch her without permission. It’s more than she can say for many other gods and goddesses.
She gets up to leave the book on her desk, pausing as she walks to the wrong side of the room. She huffs as she reminds herself her room is a mirror to Hades’s. Persephone braces herself before walking out. She knocks on Hades’s door.
Hades obviously hears her, so she knows she’s being ignored. “Hades.”
Silence.
“Hades. I’m sorry.”
Silence.
Persephone sighs, frustrated. “Hades, come on. What do you want me to say? Everyone talks shit about you up there. Of course I didn’t trust you. Hermes seems to like you. Respect you even. I assumed the worst. If we’re stuck here, we might as well be friends, right?”
Silence.
Something odd happens in the silence, Persephone finds herself worrying…about the god of death.
“...Hades? Are you okay?”
Persephone hesitates as she reaches for the door. She twists the doorknob and sees Hades lying still on the bed.
Persephone’s eyebrows shoot up in shock. It looks like she’s just stepped into a funeral. But…Hades can’t die. She’s fine, right?
“Hades.”
Persephone decides she has to at least check that she’s breathing.
She moves across the room, unsure if she should be loud or quiet. She obviously wants Hades to be okay, but if she is just sleeping, she doesn’t want to be the jerk that just waltzed into someone’s room.
She holds her hand in front of Hades’s nose, waiting to feel a breath against her hand. When she doesn’t, she startles. What’s she supposed to do? Hades is a higher god. If she’s not breathing, what can Persephone do about it?
Pulse. She can check her pulse as one final test. Maybe higher gods don’t breathe? It sounds ridiculous. Persephone doesn’t even know what to think anymore.
She knows Hades made a fuss about how she hadn’t touched Persephone, so Persephone hesitates before pressing her fingers to Hades’s neck.
It should be fine. Hades isn’t trying to hurt her.
She should be fine.
She tries once more. “Hades!”
Again, Hades doesn’t stir.
She presses her fingers against Hades’s neck.
Almost immediately, Hades jolts awake.
She lets out a shocked yell. As soon as she registers that Persephone is touching her, she swats her hand away. Her eyes look panicked and she holds her hand over her heart. “Why did you do that? Do you know what you just—”
Hades is hyperventilating and she’s the exact opposite of what she was before. She seems to be crying like she can’t control it.
She’s still holding her heart like she’s in pain.
Persephone tries to defend herself. “You weren’t breathing. I—I don’t know.”
Hades shoots her a glare, but it’s weak with tears in her eyes. “I can’t die.”
Persephone’s yelling now. “I don’t know anything about you! I’m sorry I was concerned?!”
Hades flinches and one last tear makes its way down her cheek. She collects herself and wipes the tears away. She stares at Persephone with wonder.
Persephone feels like she’s made of glass. No, not glass. She feels like a book that Hades can read effortlessly.
Hades swallows. “I think I know what happened to your sister.”
It’s the last thing Persephone expects Hades to say.
For some reason, her first reaction is anger to overcome the shock. “What the fuck do you know about my sister?”
Hades blinks and tilts her head. For a second Persephone thinks it’s cute before she snaps out of it. “Do you…not know…” Persephone seems clueless. Then, it seems like Hades blushes. “Oh.” She collects herself, wiping at her cheeks again to clear away any remaining tears. “I’m so sorry. I thought you knew.”
Persephone sighs, frustrated. “Knew what?”
Hades licks her lips, unsure h
ow to say it other than just to say it. “The reason I don’t touch people. I can read them. Not what they’re feeling right now when I look at their souls, but I can see everything.”
Persephone’s hand twitches. “Fuck.”
Hades’s shoulders curl up to her ears. She makes herself small, nonthreatening. “I’m sorry. I—I know you’re a private person.” Hades sighs. “I’m sorry I even know that. I can’t exactly…un-know it now.”
Persephone’s terrified. What the fuck does Hades know about her? “So…when you say everything…?”
Hades’s breath is shaky. “I mean, that was just a second. I didn’t exactly get a full look. Which is good. It usually takes…hours to get a full read. Days maybe. Longer or shorter depending on the life span. But…you think about your sister a lot so that was…the focus.” She hesitates. “She was beautiful.”
Persephone, despite herself, holds back a laugh. It’s almost manic as she clings to the only thought process that is painless. “We were twins.”
Hades blushes.
Persephone’s staring at Hades, waiting to see some kind of judgment or difference in her eyes from before she fucking read her mind. But Hades is unchanged. “...What do you think happened to her?”
Hades takes a deep breath, her eyes flicker to Persephone’s chest. She hesitates, unsure. “I’ve…never really asked before…Is it all right if I…look at your soul? Wow. That is…incredibly awkward. You can say no.”
Persephone squirms. “If you think it’ll give you answers, yes.”
Hades’s smile is small and apologetic. Persephone feels like she’s seeing her with fresh eyes.
Hades glances down at Persephone’s chest. It looks like she’s staring right at her heart.
Hades’s eyes go wide suddenly. “It worked.”
Persephone wishes she could see whatever Hades was seeing. “What? No, it didn’t.”
Hades opens her mouth, eyes narrowing as she keeps staring into Persephone’s soul. “It…it did, just not how they expected.”
Hades comes back to herself for a second. She shakes her head, looking Persephone in the eye. There’s compassion there, compassion that no one else seemed to understand enough to give before now. “I’m sorry. I should’ve said that sooner. What they did was horrible. I’m sorry.” Persephone can’t do anything but nod. What could she say? Hades actually read her mind. Hades knows.
Centuries ago, the higher gods decided having two gods for the seasons was too much, or at least most of them decided. With Hades tucked away in the Underworld, Zeus and Poseidon figured they held the majority opinion. They only needed one to bring life and then that god should have the same power to undo what they’d done to give the earth a break so it would be ready to spring to life once more.
Persephone and Autumn were tricked. They were invited to Olympus. The young twins were thrilled at the adventure. They weren’t there long before they were trapped.
A lightning bolt struck both of them and when the electricity fizzled out, only Persephone was left.
All that Persephone knew was Autumn. She was her world. They were inseparable.
And in a moment, she was gone.
Persephone’s entire world crumbled.
The gods had the nerve to explain what they’d done but were shocked to see it ended in failure. They had hoped to give Persephone the power that Autumn held as well, but when they pushed her to use it, she couldn’t.
She demanded to know where Autumn was, but they didn’t have an answer. They had thought she would simply become mortal. They didn’t expect her to vanish.
‘Why me?’ That was the next thing Persephone asked. ‘Why pick me and not her? Why was I the one that was supposed to live on?’
‘You bring life to the world. She only brought death.’
After losing the only person she loved in the world, Persephone couldn’t agree with those words. She stared at the last place she’d seen Autumn standing beside her.
‘Are you certain I’m not the one who brings death?’
But what could she do? Autumn was gone.
Hades’s eyes go back down to Persephone’s heart. “You did get her power, but you’re repressing it.”
Persephone shakes her head. “That’s not the important part of this, Hades. You said you knew what happened to her.”
Hades drags her eyes up to Persephone’s face. “Oh.” She nods slightly. “I think…I mean, this happens occasionally. If someone is ripped from life in…a violent manner. If they’re killed by an unspeakable act of cruelty, the Fates will intervene and allow that soul direct passage to Elysium.”
Persephone jumps at the chance. “Can we go? Can we see her?”
Hades’s first instinct is to say no. She’s been to Elysium exactly once and she had vowed to never go again. But here is Persephone, hope and joy in her eyes the likes of which Hades has never seen. She couldn’t say no, not when her heart warms in reaction to those youthful eyes. “Of course.”
Guilt
Hermes knocks on Hebe’s door. He knows Demeter is there. His address book updates itself on current locations.
He blinks when Demeter opens the door with nothing but his pants on. Not an ounce of shame shows on his face as he welcomes Hermes in for a moment.
Hebe’s cooking in the kitchen and she’s slightly better off, an oversized t-shirt over some shorts. Hermes was never interested in sexual things like these two and…everyone else seem to be.
He clears his throat and offers Demeter the scroll from Persephone, hoping to get out of here quickly. Hermes realizes Demeter’s not taking the scroll because he’s staring at Hermes with wide eyes. “You were with her yesterday?” Demeter’s voice is soft, but not weak.
Hebe drops her spoon and turns off the stove to move closer and listen to Hermes.
As Hebe’s hand goes to the small of Demeter’s back, Hermes glances away. “Uh, yeah. We played chess.”
Hebe snorts. “I’ve been trying to teach her how to play chess for centuries. She just moves the pieces when you’re not looking.”
Hermes smirks. “We didn’t play by the rules.”
Demeter’s shoulders seem to visibly relax. “She smiled?”
Hermes understands what he’s getting at. “She smiled, laughed, made fun of me. She’s okay. I think she’s scared, obviously. But she’s dealing with it well.”
Demeter swallows, nodding. “She wrote something, right? If that idiot didn’t, I will kill her and send her back to the Underworld myself.”
Hermes reaches into his bag and hands over the scroll. “Well, that’s all I have for you two.”
Demeter holds the scroll like a lifeline. He leans into Hebe who wraps an arm around him more firmly.
Hebe looks Hermes in the eye. “Thank you. Can you come back Tuesday to deliver a scroll to her from us?”
Hermes bows his head and walks from the house as quickly as his winged shoes would let him. Hermes isn't excited to act awkwardly around Persephone and have the woman push him into revealing that her best friend and her pseudo-dad are dating.
Meanwhile, Hebe and Demeter open the letter.
Demeter,
Stop fucking worrying. I’m…well, it’s shitty here, but I’m fine. Apparently, Eros started losing strength in two weeks and I’m only two days in so that’s exciting to look forward to.
I don’t know what to think about her. She’s literally all that’s around here. I guess I’ll go hunting around and look for a three-headed dog. You think that’s real? I’ll let you know. You and Hebe should make a bet about it. I assume you and Hebe are still spending time together even if I’m not there to get you into the same room.
I hope you guys are hanging out. Tell Hebe to take my seat on the couch or you two idiots are going to get nostalgic or something and I’ve only been gone like, what, it’ll be three days I think when you get this?
Also, wow look how long this is. And you assholes wrote me that short message. I expect a novel next time. You have a
lmost a full week to write it.
...How are the flowers up there? I can’t feel them at all. I don’t know if I want you to answer that. I don’t want to know if they’re all dying. I’ll be back soon. Just a few weeks, right? Don’t miss me too much.
I know I’ve only said it with flowers…but I love you.
Wow it’s gross when it’s not coated in subtlety.
Whatever, I’ll see you soon. Don’t throw a fit. If there’s no flowers, don’t make people starve. I know you’re dramatic, so chill. It’s just a month and then everything is back to normal.
With LOVE (ew),
Persephone
Demeter reads the last sentence five times over. It’s just a month and then everything is back to normal. Eros had already explained to Demeter and Hebe that a lead arrow won’t work for them. Nothing will ever be normal again. Demeter doesn’t know if he has the heart to tell Persephone that right now.
✽✽✽
Soft grass tickles the back of Eros’s neck as he lies on the ground. He starts to see dots in his vision as he stares at the sun. He takes a deep breath, expecting the normal flowery scent in the air, but it’s nowhere to be found.
The grass is replaced by a thigh as Helios pillows Eros’s head on his lap. “Don’t stare, you’ll hurt your eyes.”
Eros sighs, letting his eyes flutter closed. “Ah, but it’s so beautiful.”
Helios flicks his ear. “It won’t be beautiful when you’re blind.”
Eros frowns. “It’ll still be beautiful. It’ll feel beautiful.” He turns his head into Helios’s stomach and takes a deep breath. “And smell beautiful.” He lifts his shirt and licks him. “And taste beautiful.”
Helios crinkles his nose but manages to smile. “You’re disgusting.”
Eros beams. “You’re hot.”
Helios sighs heavily. “These are all terrible pickup lines. You’ve learned nothing from observing the subjects of your arrows.”